Tyler Wallace, of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), posted this about shooting as a sport.

Shooting: I wouldn’t call it a sport but more of a skill and therefore not appropriate for the games.

– Tyler Wallace, NASM

So, shooting is not a “real sport” and should not be included in things like the Olympic Games, according to Tyler Wallace. It is sad and very telling that someone involved at NASM is so ridiculously ignorant of sport history.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the founder of the International Olympic Committee and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games. He was also a French pistol shooting champion. The father of the modern Olympic Games was a marksmanship champion and included Shooting events as part of the first Olympic Games in 1896. That makes it a sport valid for the Olympics, more so than many of the sports that have been included since.

Let’s look up how dictionaries define the word sport:


4. diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.



These dictionary definitions specifically list things like golf, bowling, hunting, and fishing among examples of a sport. These specific, by-name examples in the dictionary definition of the word are more skills, don’t necessarily require substantial physical exertion. Sometimes skilled competitors in such events may appear (or actually be) overweight and unathletic. But dictionaries maintain such activities are sports.

Some more history on shooting as a sport: